Care Management Ties Together Whole Person Care

Peer Support Specialist Rosa Bryant Pulley, left, and Care Manager Christian Hinton, right, show off the colorful scarves that Sierra Turner knitted for them to say “thank you” for their efforts in helping her through Care Management.

With Tailored Care Management support, Sierra Turner has achieved things she didn’t think possible and she is thriving. 

When she dances, Sierra Turner finds comfort and emotional release in moving her arms, hands and legs to feel the music.

Sierra, who is visually impaired and diagnosed with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), recalls the desire to dance as a young girl but performances were limited to her childhood bedroom. She says she was never brave enough to perform in front of others. At 35, Sierra is pursuing not only dance, but a number of other goals she wants to achieve.

Last December, Sierra danced during a holiday performance at Victory Church in Raleigh, where she is a member. It was one of her goals and two of her Monarch Care Management team members, Peer Support Specialist Rosa Bryant Pulley, B.A., CPSS, and Care Manager Christian Hinton, BSW, were there, along with her family, to cheer her on.

Reaching Goals She Never Thought Possible

Dancing isn’t the only goal Sierra has on her list. She is moving forward, with the help of her Care Management team, to find independent living options, pursue further educational resources and maneuver available transportation among other goals. She is bravely doing things she had only dreamed about and realizing that she possesses the skills to make her goals a reality.

Christian and Rosa are part of a support network for individuals like Sierra, who would like to navigate an independent life as well as connect with community, mental health or health care resources to overcome life challenges such as homelessness, pregnancy or mental illness.

The Care Management team, led by a care manager who coordinates services, works to identify health needs via a thorough assessment of a person seeking help. Following the assessment, the Care Management team develops a plan of care, with input from the person supported, to meet the needs identified. The care plan may include Monarch services, as well as incorporating programs from other community agencies.

In 2021 and in partnership with Alliance Health, Rosa and Christian became part of a pilot Care Management team that was assembled at Monarch to help people in need. Other members of the Wake pilot team include Care Managers Amy Eisenman, B.A., Merell Turner, B.A., QP, and Vice President of Care Management, Behavioral Health, Leigh Daughtridge, LCSW, along with other mental health, physical health and social support staff who contribute to the whole-person care approach.

North Carolina Names Monarch Care Management Agency

In February, the state of North Carolina awarded Monarch certification as a Care Management Agency (CMA). As a CMA, Monarch will provide integrated, collaborative care to Medicaid beneficiaries with serious mental illness, serious emotional disturbance, severe substance use disorders, traumatic brain injuries and I/DD served through the state’s Tailored Plans.

Tailored Care Management will officially launch on December 1, when Monarch plans to provide services across North Carolina using a team-based approach, like the Wake pilot Care Management team.

Anna Marshall, vice president of Care Management, I/DD and Tailored Plan, sees the model as an approach that matches the appropriate support to help people in need to be successful in all areas of their lives: “It could mean finding the resources to pay for medication, working with their physicians and team to help with their care, or simply finding resources for food so they can feed their family. It is an integrated approach to wellness.”

Care Management is Identifying Resources and Connecting

Seeing the impact of the pilot Care Management program during the past year, Leigh believes that the service is an effective way to assist people in need, especially in underserved parts of the North Carolina. “We acknowledge the differences in services available to people living in rural communities and our goal is to bridge that gap through coordinated community relationships that will support their needs,” she notes.

Rosa describes Care Management in simple terms as “a give and take where the person supported is welcomed, loved and given a push.”

“It all ties together,” adds Christian of Care Management’s team approach. “I learn something every single day from our staff and people supported.” Sierra is grateful to have a personalized team supporting and guiding her to reach her goals. Years after she first dreamed of performing for others, she is looking to enroll in dance classes for people who are visually impaired.

“I never expected to go down this path when I first started with Care Management,” she says with a smile. “But, I am glad that I am going down this path.”

Visit here for more information through Monarch about Tailored Care Management and the timeline for launching services throughout North Carolina or call (866) 272-7826. The North Carolina Medicaid Division of Health Benefits also offers additional details and information.